


Keeping Hope Alive

by ereshai



Series: Marvel Shipping Games [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Loss of Limbs, M/M, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-31
Updated: 2014-12-31
Packaged: 2018-03-04 22:37:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3094367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ereshai/pseuds/ereshai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve tightened his grip on his weapon. It wouldn't be like last time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Keeping Hope Alive

**Author's Note:**

> For the 2014 Marvel Shipping Games bonus round 6 prompt: Steve/Tony, zombie apocalypse.

"How's that?" Tony asked Steve as he stepped back.   
  
Steve lifted his new hand, turning it, flexing the fingers. The mechanism responded flawlessly - Tony had been perfecting the technology for months. The design had been based on Bucky's metal arm. He wondered if he'd ever see his friend again.  
  
"Looks good," he said, hopping off the table.   
  
"Steve," Tony began, then stopped. He put his hand on Steve's back, and leaned forward to press a small kiss on his shoulder. Steve turned and wrapped his undamaged arm around him and pulled him close.  
  
"It's great. I just have to get used to it." Tony pulled away; Steve let him go.  
  
"I'm sorry we couldn't..." Tony's voice trailed off. "So, yeah. This is just a rough draft, if you will. Wait until you see it all decked out."  
  
"Tony." Steve waited until Tony actually looked him in the eye. "This," he held up his metal hand, "is already much better than the alternative. Okay?"  
  
Tony held his gaze for a long time before he nodded and looked away. "I'm hungry. Are you hungry? Let's eat." He turned and left the room quickly, leaving Steve to follow slowly behind him.  
  
*  
"Any response to the beacon yet?" Steve asked over lunch. There was still hope that the rest of the Avengers, or even someone from SHIELD, was still alive out there, but every day without contact made it harder to keep that hope alive.  
  
"Not yet."  
  
"Sirs," JARVIS' voice crackled over the speakers. "There is a perimeter breach. Sensors indicate multiple targets in the lobby."  
  
"Foe or foe, JARVIS?" Tony asked as he donned his armor.  
  
"They don't seem very friendly, Mr. Stark."  
  
"Are they carrying weapons, JARVIS?" Steve asked before Tony could go off on a tangent. He was more easily distracted lately; Steve tried not to blame himself.  
  
"No, Captain Rogers."  
  
"It's been a while since anyone's attempted a hostile takeover. I'm sure this is just the usual." Tony pointedly did not look at Steve's prosthetic hand, a reminder that they couldn't get complacent.  
  
Steve put on his reinforced jacket, and fumbled a glove onto his human hand. The prosthetic  _was_  good; his brain just had to learn how to interpret the feedback from the sensors Tony had installed. He pulled on his helmet, the only bit of his old uniform he had saved, and picked up his shield and his stave.  
  
The lobby was the only hole in their defenses, one they'd left on purpose. It made it easier to funnel intruders - living or Dead - right where they wanted them. Steve took the elevator down to the mezzanine that overlooked the huge open area, while Tony flew down the outside of the building.  
  
A small group of the Dead were stumbling around, though the sound of the elevator drew their attention. They looked up at Steve and migrated toward him, standing under his spot on the balcony and reaching up, their eerie moans echoing around the room. They ignored Tony hovering just outside the glassless window frames.  
  
They could ignore the Dead; there was no way they could access the upper floors. All the escalators had been destroyed, and the stairwells had been blocked off. The elevators had been programmed not to open on any floor lower than the fifth, except with an override, and they didn't open onto the lobby at all.   
  
But the Dead were not silent, and sound traveled easily up the elevator shafts and the stairwells. It wasn't good for morale. A lot of people lived in the Tower, but not nearly as many as it could hold, and they sometimes lost some of those precious survivors when the noise went on for too long. As the only two Avengers in residence, Steve and Tony tried to take care of the problem before it became unmanageable.  
  
This group was about the size of the last one, the one that had cost Steve his hand. The super soldier serum was the only reason it hadn't cost him his life. He tightened his grip on his weapon. It wouldn't be like last time.   
  
He nodded at Tony, and jumped into the fray.


End file.
